Dec. 30, 2009

QUEENS, N.Y. - A season after reaching the conference tournament for a sixth-straight year, the St. John's baseball team was selected to finish fourth in the BIG EAST Conference according to the annual preseason poll. Senior outfielder Jimmy Parque was also one of 15 student-athletes named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.

Louisville, the defending regular season and tournament champions, earned nine first place votes and 119 points to finish first in the poll. USF was second with 113 points and three first place votes, while Connecticut was third with 94 points. St. John's had 87 points and Notre Dame rounded out the top five with 84 points.

A third team All-BIG EAST selection and a second team ABCA All-Northeast region honoree in 2009, Parque batted .360 with 17 doubles, five home runs and 61 RBI. The outfielder scored 53 runs, posted a .509 slugging percentage and a .425 on-base percentage in his first season in a Red Storm uniform.

Head coach Ed Blankmeyer and the St. John's baseball team opens its 2010 campaign on Feb. 18 with a three-game set at New Orleans. The Red Storm will host Fairfield in its home-opener on March 16.